Owl Mini Stacked Piggy Tail Bows

Published: September 8, 2014

Whooo, Whooo is ready for some super sweet and super cute bows that are the perfect addition to those adorable little piggy tails on your little sweetie? I am in love with these bows and can’t wait until my little baby girl’s hair grows long enough to A)put in piggy tails and B)for her to learn that bows are meant for adorning her hair, not the floor! Hehe! She is not really a fan of bows of any sort right now so whenever I put them in with a smile on my face, she rips them out with a frown on hers. Mary from Little Mama Bowtique is sharing adorable little stacked owl bows that are tooooo, tooooo cute and some that I dream of putting in my little one’s hair someday soon! Enjoy!

Hi all!!! It’s Mary back from Little Mama Bowtique and so super excited to be sharing a fall tutorial with you! I LOVE fall….pumpkin everything, hot apple cider, and OWLS, lots and lots of OWLS! I also realize with fall comes back to school craziness and tried to choose something perhaps a little more simple, so you can get right back to those kids and work! When following this tutorial you can make just one of everything or double up each step for a set of piggy tail bows.

Here are the supplies you will need:ribbon (I chose a variety of 1 inch ribbon from Adornit)scissorsbow templates*I just use cardboard pieces one cut to 4 inch and one cut to 5.5 inch (with a cut down the middle for each)pinsheavy duty threadlighterstarchbottle cap supplies

I always start top to bottom. So grab the ribbon you want to use for your top bow, and your 4 inch template. Cut your ribbon at a diagonal and heat seal, place about half way over your middle cut on the template.

Wrap it around twice and on the second time cut your ribbon the same but on other side of the cut in your template, cut a diagonal again and heat seal. Place a pin in the middle of your ribbon where the cut is.

Slide your ribbon off carefully and gently, you want it to keep it’s tube like shape. You are going to bring the inner ribbon up and the outer ribbon down, forming an x in the middle and you will start to see a butterfly shaped bow come to life, with 4 equal loops. Grab your needle and thread. Make an entry stitch and then two more top stitches and an exit stitch. This will give you the weave you need to make your bow form nice creases. Pull the thread tight and wrap it around your bow several times, I sew down from the top and then make a couple knots in the back.

Spray your bow with starch and set it aside to dry. I like to place mine in a warm area to help it set faster, you can place it outside if it is hot, in front of a space heater, or in a oven on low. I make the next layer while that dries.

Next comes your spikes. My top bow here measures about 2.5 inches wide so I cut my spikes to approximately 4.5 inches wide. I chose 5 ribbons to use. Take your scissors and at a 45 degree angle cut a “V” shape and heat seal. Do this to each ribbon end.

Arrange your spikes in whichever array your little heart desires. Start with the middle and criss cross all the way out to your final spikes. Sew using the same technique you did with your twisted boutique bow above.

Spray with starch and allow to dry. Now onto your bottom layer!! Just choose any one of your ribbons and use the 5.5 inch template to make another twisted boutique bow. I make my bottom bows slightly larger to support the spikes and anything else I choose to put in the middle! Spray with starch once again and once everything is REALLY dry you are ready for assemble. This is what you should have right now:

You are going to build from bottom up, so get out your glue gun and place some glue over the center stitching of your base bow and attach the underside of your spike layer to it. Make sure to keep them nice and straight. Next place some glue over the center of your spikes layer and attach bottom side of your top twisted boutique bow to it. The center spike should line up where your two loops on your twisted boutique bow meet on the side.

Now we are ready to put our bottle cap together! Here is what you will need: bottle cap image, The Ribbon Retreat has so many fun images for you to choose from. You can find those HERE (etsy is also a great place to find these, I purchased mine from: https://www.etsy.com/shop/AlishaPerkins?ref=l2-shop-info-name), bottle cap and epoxy sticker both available at TRR and a 1 inch hole punch.

Punch out your image, place an epoxy sticker on the top and use your fingernail to smooth it onto the sticker (this will get rid of any bubbles). Place some hot glue onto your bottle cap and attach the image and hold down for a few seconds until it is set.

Yay, we made it to final assembly now!!! Line an alligator clip or if you prefer you can use French clips as well with 3/8 inch ribbon and glue onto the back of your bow. I made one right sided and one left sided since I was doing piggy tails.

Take some 3/8 inch ribbon and glue it to the back center inside of your clip. We are going to wrap the entire bow through its middle, which covers all the stitches and holds the bow together. Bring it back to the inside of the clip and glue again. Don’t forget to heat seal those ends too!

So now you just take your bottle cap and glue it to the center top of your bow. This is a perfect time to add any little extras like sequin bows on sides or little resins. I happen to find these adorable little mushroom accents in my hoarder’s episode worthy craft room that I think I’ve had for probably 2 years now!

I want to thank Michelle for being such an awesome Blog Coordinator and thank you all so much for joining me! I will be back for Halloween with a super fabulous stacked bow!

Aren’t those seriously the cutest bows ever? Mini bows are ADORABLE, and I love to see them placed on top of those cute little piggy tails! They are yummy…just not quite as yummy as the little sweetie that wears them! Thank you so much Mary for sharing your amazing talent for creating gorgeous ribbon creations! This lady truly is talented, and I just love her! Make sure to check out ALL of her ribbon creations on her Facebook page, Little Mama Bowtique!

Before having my little sweetie, I had no idea what I was missing out on with bows and ribbon galore! I had no idea how much fun it was to create bows, to place them (or dream of placing them) in my little girlee’s naturally curly hair and matching every outfit with bows, bows, bows! Here are a few more bow goodness tutorials for you to accessorize those adorable little outfits or piggy tails with…

Bows are so much fun to make! What is your favorite technique or type of bow to make?